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Waterford's case for a university

Fri, Feb 27, 2009, 00:00

Madam, – A year has passed since the publication of the Port report on the readiness of Waterford IT to serve as a university for the south-east . Since then, after a change of Education Minister, and six months beyond the statement by Minister O’Keefe in October that a decision would be made “in the coming weeks”, the case lies dormant and seemingly ignored.

The south-east region provides residence for over 460,000 people who are awaiting the opportunity to provide for themselves – the same opportunity afforded to all other, similarly sized regions in Ireland. Years have passed since this question was first brought before government and a point of stagnation has been reached due to the inertia displayed on this matter by political leaders. .

In recent months, the Government has shown that finances, even in the most testing of times and extreme of conditions, can be acquired for matters such as nationalising Anglo Irish Bank. A mere fraction of this cost would be enough to give the south-east a university, a beacon of hope, a chance to attract its own foreign direct investment and encourage start-up enterprise.

Such an opportunity, in the wake of economic downtown, to give the region a chance to stabilise the effects of brain drain and its reliance on other regions for employment is surely in the national interest. – Yours, etc,